Jug

Art Historical Context

This delicate rendering of a jug captures the quiet beauty of everyday American craftsmanship. Created between 1940 and 1941 by artists Sara Garfinkel and John Tarantino, the work measures 44.5 by 35.5 centimeters and reproduces an original vessel thirteen inches high with a six-inch base diameter. Executed in watercolor, colored pencil, and graphite on paperboard, the drawing belongs to the Index of American Design, a remarkable archive now housed at the National Gallery of Art. The Index was a Depression-era initiative under the Works Progress Administration that employed hundreds of artist...